Shade: Kōngxū
by MonsterSlut
Summary: Promise. A small word with such big implications. A promise to right a father's wrongs and a promise made in blood, brings two lost souls together with a single mission: Clean up Starling City. After five years in hell, Oliver Queen and River Quinn return home to a city so lost it might take everything they are just to fix the wrongs of their fathers {this is a complete rewrite}


**Hey guys, long time no see, how has everybody been?**

 **I know it's literally been forever but I've had a lot going on in my life over the past year and I literally lost all desire to write! Sometimes personal life just sucks the muse right out of you and I felt like I was no longer writing for me but just for the sake of writing than I'm having to go through a series of personal medical stuff as well. It felt good to take some time off and reevaluate things Then I got sucked into the world of online roleplaying and actually made some pretty damn amazing friends and those guys helped me get my muse back. One of the RP's we were doing recently was an Arrow one and it kind of got me thinking about my old Arrow OC River who I adore as my first born, and so I made the choice to get back on here and the first thing I did was read all of my fics to get a feel for them. Personally I feel as though I have grown as a writer {I'm even up to chapter eight of a book I'm writing as well} so I made the choice to come back and rewrite these fics which I am seriously proud of despite the many, many mistakes. I'd like to thank you all for your patience and I hope you enjoy the rewrite.**

 **Pairings will remain the same but in case you forgot:**

 **OC x Roy**

 **Oliver x Felicity**

 **Disclaimer:**

 **I do NOT own Arrow or any affiliated characters aside from my OC River Quinn...and I have no beta so any mistakes I've missed are my own**

 **This chapter consists of chapter one and chapter two of the original works with edits and restructures. I hope you like it.**

 **One**

Imagine that the last thing that you ever tell your mother is that you hated her. Imagine the pain you would feel because on that one occasion, you didn't swallow your pride, hug her and tell her that you love her but you'll be okay. Well…River Quinn didn't have to. She was only sixteen and at that age, she had no idea that her mother was only trying to protect her. All River could think about was the three-week vacation to Paris she was about to take with her father and the fact that her mother was going to ruin her life by stopping her from going. She wanted nothing more than to be able to tell all her friends that she got to spend three weeks on a yacht with part boy Oliver Queen - yes, he was going to have a girl hanging off him but that was still three weeks on a yacht with Oliver Queen!

Looking back, given what River knew now, some might ask if she would still make the same mistakes and her answer would always be yes. Though this time she could hug her mother, tell her that she loved her instead of uttering words of hatred but she could still get on that yacht. Every day, every single day she was on that miserable island all she could think about was her mother and how she told her that the Queen's were dangerous, that he father was working for dangerous people. Hindsight is a beautiful thing.

For five years River thought about her mother and the family that she'd let behind, with each passing day, their faces drifted further and further away until she could no longer remember what they looked like or how their voices sounded, there was only a flash of a smile, a laugh, a smell...those five years were total hell and if River had been alone, she would have died but by the grace of the gods, that careless party boy was her only solace. Every girl's dream is to be stuck on a deserted island with their ultimate crush but the reality of it was harsher than anything they could have ever experience. Oliver was seven years older than her and although they knew virtually nothing about each other, he looked after her.

The first few days on the island were probably the hardest for both River and Oliver, she helped Oliver bury his father on the island, unfortunately for her, River's father went down with the ship. Her memory after the boat sank wasn't exactly the best, the only things that stuck out were that Robert Queen wanted his son to right all his wrongs and made him promise to do so before he shot the deck hand…followed by himself. How the hell Oliver was supposed to right Robert's wrongs after being stuck at sea had the sixteen-year-old stumped considering neither of them knew what his wrongs were or how many there were.

The island tested them. It pushed them and tortured them but in the end, it made them better than who they were - River most of all. They learnt to do things on that island, it stripped them down to the base essentials, leaving them raw and exposed before building them up bit by bit until they became stronger. Together they lost track of the days and the months which soon turned into years, every day was a blur and yet a blessing at the same time.

In a matter of months, Oliver went swiftly from crush to big brother figure, sure the selfish Oliver Queen was hard to get rid of, he had a nasty habit of sticking around for a while until realising that there was no way that he could get off the island without becoming something better. And what about River? She was a sponge, easier to mould. A teenager's mind is truly void of many things.

Both Oliver and River could have lived their whole life out on that island and died there alone and no one would have known. But they happened to be lucky enough and were found by some Chinese who were fishing in the coastal waters off the edge of the island. They didn't realise how much the world had changed...neither of them were ready to return to Starling City and see how far into hell it had gone. The rich had gotten richer whilst the poor suffered and died.

River didn't know how Oliver intended to right his father's wrongs but after five years on that hellish island, there was no way he was leaving her behind. In blood, River swore she would help him, and if she had to spill blood to do so-so be it. Oliver had spilt enough blood for her and it was time to return the favour. The name of the island they found the two on is called 'Lian Yu' which is Mandarin for 'purgatory'.

In all honesty, the name Lian Yu was incredibly appropriate. It felt like they had been punished, thrown into purgatory for something in our past. It was hard to not take it personally at first. It was the happiest day of River's life when they were rescued on that island, the fishermen that found the two gave them warm clothes, proper food and delivered the castaways to civilisation. River couldn't wait to see her mother again, her sisters…but the knowledge that there was a job to do weighed heavily on her mind. She had no idea how Oliver planned to do it.

When they were brought back to Starling City, Oliver and River were separated to be given their own private evaluations from physical to psychological. She was x-rayed, given MRI's, asked a million questions that she didn't know the answers to so River said nothing at all. It was late at night when she first heard the pained shriek in the corridor just outside her room. River used to be able to tell the time by glancing at the sky but the city lights were messing with her internal clock. How she missed the silence.

River pulled a pillow over her head as she sat on the floor, wedged between the wall and her bedside set of drawers. She was suddenly regretting the fact that she was home and alive as well as everything that was about to follow. She missed Oliver, even though he was in the room beside her, he was so close but so far away. "River?" a timid voice called out. "River…it's mum."

She pulled the pillow down a little a little tighter, keeping her face covered and her hand gripped around the scalpel she'd stolen earlier. The first weapon she had, was confiscated and so the scalpel was easier to hide. "River, honey…where are you?" she asked, the blood red heals she was wearing, came to a stop on the ground just at the end of her bed. A small gasp escaped her mouth. "River, honey…what are you doing on the floor?"

River tucked the scalpel underneath the drawers before pulling the pillow completely off her face. Ella Quinn had aged gracefully in the past five years, the green eyes that her mother and siblings had stared down at River, trying to make something of the creature huddling on the ground. She got down on the floor front of her daughter, hesitantly putting her hand on River's arm.

The first thing that River seemed to notice was the wedding ring on her finger. The new wedding ring. "Mum," she whispered in a hoarse whisper, her voice having been used sparsely over the past few months. Oh, how that word sounded so foreign to her. Ella pressed herself forward, wrapping her arms around River and squeezing her close. River winced internally, ignoring the pain from the bruises she'd collected from Oliver a few days ago. He was better at close quarters, using strength to fight, she was more of a hit and run type, striking then coming back, hitting major organs to kill someone. River put her arms around her and buried her face in Ella's shoulder.

She smelt like fake apples and cinnamon. That same smell that River had forgotten. She closed her eyes and sighed, the sound of sirens and traffic in the distance bore into her bones. Yup…she was certainly home.

It was probably too much to ask to go home with Oliver…right?

In five years, the two of them had been practically attached by the hip both emotionally and physically. The doctor had told Ella that she was able to take River home but at the same time they had taken the liberty of scheduling her in for counselling three times a week whilst worrying about her having PTSD and a wide variety of other psychosis. Whilst the doctors filled out the discharge paperwork, her mother took off to get some clothes and other essentials that River would obviously be needing. Ella was so excited to be able to take her out shopping in a few days and organise a whole new wardrobe. River guessed that her mother was trying to make sure that everything was as normal as possible whilst she was acclimatising to everything.

Nearly an hour later, her mother came back an hour later with some simple clothes, some other essentials and a smile on her face. "Your sisters are so happy that you're coming home," Ella grinned as she dropped some clothes on the bed. "It's all Molly and Angela have been talking about since we got the phone call."

River picked up the pile of tank tops Ella was setting out on the bed whilst she babbled on and on about the family, clearly the doctor hadn't told her where all of River's physical scars and burns were when he'd spoken to her. When the nurse first saw her body, she could only look at River in pity, mumbling something about someone so pretty being so scared. That's why she was wearing a long-sleeved shirt. Don't get her wrong, River was extremely proud of her scars, every single one - they all told a story-were a badge of honour. "Um-mum…I can get dressed on my own," she spoke in a barely audible whisper.

Ella stopped in mid action, with a sigh, her mother put down the shirt and patted River on the shoulder. "My poor baby, I can only imagine what happened to you on that island. It's all Queen's-"

"Don't!" River snapped, grabbing her wrist tightly. "Don't you dare blame Oliver for this!" she seethed angrily. It was unfair and totally out of line. The doctor knocked on the door and opened it. "Mrs Wilson?" he spoke, asking for Ella. "I've got the paperwork sorted, would you like to come and sign them?"

"Mrs Wilson?" River muttered to herself, looking at her mother as she stood there looking like a child caught red-handed with a cookie in both hand. She even took the name of the man who married her after River supposedly died. Ella released her daughter's hand and as she rubbed it, Ella looked on River with pity. "Thank you, Doctor Nemo," she whispered, stepping out with him.

River growled under her breath and grabbed the clothes laid out for her before stalking off to the bathroom to get cleaned up and changed, locking the door behind her for her own sake. When she emerged nearly twenty minutes later, the room was still empty and the clothing still all over the bed let her know that her mother hadn't been back in the room. Taking a deep breath, River let herself out and knocked on the door to Oliver's room. Seconds later, an immaculately dressed woman opened the door and after a moment, she stepped aside to let River in. "You must be River?" she smiled warmly. "I'm Moira Queen, Oliver's mother."

"Hello Mrs Queen," River smiled politely, hands folded behind her back casually so the woman couldn't see how nervous she was.

"Please, call me Moira," she urged her, that loving smile still in place. Moira Queen does not seem like the type of person to be called by Moira unless it was by anyone of her social class. At least that was River's opinion of her. "Are you looking for Oliver?" she inquired, noticing River's eyes darting about the room.

River nodded again. "The doctor said I could go home," she whispered. "I wanted to see Oliver, I haven't seen him since they separated us."

Moira dug around in her handbag and produced a business card that she handed her. "River, if you ever wanted to talk, come around and see Oliver, call this number and someone will come and pick you up. You are more than welcome in the Queen house at any time. Day or night."

"Thank you, Mrs Queen," River spoke softly once she had reluctantly taken the card. "River!" her mother shouted from her room. Her voice was laced with panic. "River!" she came passed the room but stopped when she that her daughter was standing there with Moira Queen. She gasped and clutched her chest. "Don't do that!" she whispered.

The bathroom door opened and Oliver stepped out. He looked so much better without the beard and shaggy hair. He gave River a smile. "Are you going home?" he asked. "Warden's letting me leave." Oliver looked over at Ella with his bright, blue eyes.

"Mrs Quinn." Moira walked over to my mother. "Perhaps you and I should let these two talk, Mrs Quinn."

She cleared her throat. "It's Wilson, Ella Wilson…but…okay…"

Once Moira and Ella were both gone, River rushed over to Oliver and hugged him tightly. "I can't do this," she whispered. "The noise, the lights, the smell of everything is freaking me out." River could practically feel him smile. "Yes, you can. We both can. Remember?"

"Yes, I do," River answered. "I made you a promise." They both separated and River fixed her jacket up. "How are you so composed and I'm a mental wreck?" she lightly demanded to know, noting the difference between the two of them.

Oliver paused. "Because I know that I have a job to do. As much as I don't want you helping me, you'll follow me until I let you."

River laughed, that was one thing Oliver liked about her - she was stubborn as a mule. It helped most of the time but there were times where it didn't. "You're mum gave me a number to call…if it's okay that I come over, of course."

"Why wouldn't it be?" he frowned.

"My mother thinks this is all your fault," she told him in a low whisper. "She's already tried to blame you for what happened. Not that it's anyone's fault. It's like blaming your neighbour for an earthquake or a volcano." River suddenly had this mental image of her mother gathering the villages and chasing Oliver with torches and pitchforks which made her giggle a little. Oliver glanced out the door to look at their mothers. "Your mother is getting impatient to take you home."

She rolled her eyes. "Seems that way-she remarried…wonder to who…"

"I'll call you in the morning," Oliver told me.

"You don't have the number," River frowned.

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm a Queen, I'm sure I can find it."

River hugged him again. "I can't believe we're home…we could have died on that island." Slowly but surely it was sinking in, River was sure that soon enough it would hit her soon enough but she wasn't sure how on earth she would deal with it without her family thinking that she was a lunatic.

"But we didn't," Oliver reminded her. "Remember that. Everything that happened brought us back here. I have to fore fill my father's wishes."

She nodded. River had promised, in blood, to help Oliver. She was going to help him like her father helped Robert Queen. She was sure Daniel Quinn had done many bad things by Robert's orders, but in those past few months, she had seen her father becoming a different man. Not the man her mother painted him as. It didn't bother her that his job kept her clothed and fed and living in a massive apartment, but she could see that it was bothering him in those last months. "Talk to you in the morning?"

"Sure thing, twitch," he smirked.

"Don't call me that," River grumbled as she went to join her mother.


End file.
